This Grocery Store Just Edged Out Costco as America's #1 Favorite

A young woman shops in a grocery store, holding a bag of groceries, promoting eco-friendly and sustainable shopping practices while browsing products in a brightly lit supermarket. — Shutterstock

Evidence-Based

Trader Joe’s just beat Costco in new rankings of America’s favorite grocery stores.

February 8, 2026

Mega warehouse chain Costco has always enjoyed a strong following across the U.S., but it’s no match for cult-favorite Trader Joe’s, which is officially in the top spot according to recent rankings list from the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The rankings take into account factors such as customer satisfaction with products and services, quality of products, reliability of the app, and so on, and Costco came in at number six after Trader Joe’s, Publix, H-E-B, Sam’s Club (Walmart), and Aldi.

“With customers returning to stores—but also shopping more online—supermarkets are tasked with ensuring a satisfying, seamless experience no matter how their customers choose to shop,” the ACSI says. “ACSI helps supermarkets capture the voice of the customer and apply state-of-the art predictive technology to improve customer satisfaction with the greatest impact on profitability.”

Trader Joe’s also notably knocked Florida-based chain Publix out of the top spot in the Sunshine State, no mean feat when you consider the footprint Publix has. So what does TJ’s have that other stores don’t?

Julie Averbach, author of “The Art of Trader Joe’s”, visited 150 different Trader Joe’s locations as part of her research. “Each Trader Joe’s is very much unique,” she told CNBC. “The artwork is very personalized to reflect the local community. They all tap into a sense of local pride and identity, which is something that I think is really unique for a grocery retailer.” Averbach points out that while many stores struggle with marketing of their private label products, Trader Joe’s bucks that trend.

“There’s this kind of stigma that private label is something that you settle for so that you can pay a lower price than you would for the name brand option,” Averbach says. “At Trader Joe’s, the private label products are affordable luxuries… The packaging and the art and design play an important role in turning these private label products — something that would be perceived as perhaps less expensive and inferior in quality — into something that feels high quality and attractive for a customer.”

customer inside Trader Joe's Grocery store shopping for frozen meals in freezer aisle, packaged ready-made dinners or organic microwave meals — Shutterstock

Trader Joe’s also has a very impressive variety of imported international groceries at very low prices, giving customers the perfect balance of quality and value. “Their frozen products mimic Americanized ethnic takeout,” one shopper said. “Butter chicken, Mandarin chicken, Broccoli beef, Veggie Fried Rice, etc. Trust me, I’m not above it. I love this shit. But it’s delivery at a fraction of the price. The sauces kind of follow the same drift. The tartar sauce is indistinguishable from Popeye’s. Bbq sauce, general Tso’s etc. Then their snacks follow a very American pattern of watching a movie while eating: Olive oil popcorn, 30 different kinda of chips, etc. They offer a lot more. But this is a ton of their business. They know what they’re doing.”

The entire 2026 ACSI list is as follows: